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These simple to make Candy Corn Cookie Bars make the perfect Halloween treats! Festive layers of orange and yellow sugar cookie dough are topped with a decadent buttercream frosting, then decorated with sweet candy corn and sprinkles. They’re guaranteed to be a show-stopping dessert at your next Halloween party.

It’s almost that time of year when bags of candy corn flocks the shelves at the grocery stores as a tradition of celebrating fall and Halloween. Personally, I just can’t wait because fall is one of my favorite times of year. Between Halloween parties and all the tasty Halloween recipes, like these adorable Witch Hat Cookies and this yummy Chocolate Halloween Bark, it’s just a great time for family and fun around my house.

One of the treats we love most are these sweet and decadent frosted Candy Corn Cookie Bars. If you’re a candy corn fan, you’re going to love them! They may not taste much like candy corn, but when you cut into them you’ll immediately recognize those signature colors.

A great thing about this recipe is it’s so much fun to make, you’ll want to get the kids involved. They love anything that calls for candy and sprinkles so you can count on plenty of little volunteers.

💖 Why We Love This Recipe

These cookie bars, with all the traditional colors of candy corn, make the perfect Halloween treat.
They’re perfect for sharing and make awesome gifts for all the candy corn lovers in your life.
Easy peasy homemade cookie bars that look like desserts from a fancy bakery.
Made using a versatile recipe that you can change up based on just about any holiday
Very little prep work and chilling the dough is not necessary. And since they’re in bars, you won’t even need a cookie cutter.

🥄 Recommended Tools

8×8 Baking Pan
Hand Mixer (or stand mixer)
Large Bowl
Measuring Cups
Measuring Spoons
Wire Rack

For the Sugar Cookies Layer

Butter- softened
Sugar
Egg
Vanilla extract
Flour
Baking Powder
Salt
Yellow Gel Food Coloring
Orange Gel Food Coloring

For the Frosting

Butter- softened
Vanilla extract
Heavy Cream
Salt
Powdered Sugar
Candy Corn
Yellow & Orange Sprinkles

How to Make Frosted Candy Corn Sugar Cookie Bars

To Make the Cookies

Preheat oven to 350.

Step 1. Line a square 8×8 square pan with parchment paper and lightly butter or spray with nonstick cooking spray.

Step 2. With an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Step 3. Add in the egg and vanilla extract.

Step 4. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.

Flour with baking powder and salt in smaller bowl

Step 5. Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until they are all well incorporated.

Step 6. Divide the sugar cookie dough in half.

Step 7. Add yellow food coloring to one half of the dough and knead until the color is even throughout. Repeat with the other half of the dough and orange food coloring.

Step 8. Press the yellow dough into the bottom of the pan.

Step 9. Place the orange dough on a piece of parchment or wax paper and roll or press it out into an 8×8 square.

Step 10. Carefully place it on top of the yellow layer in the baking dish and gently press it into place.

Orange cookie dough layer rolled out on counter

Step 11. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until just set. The bake time may vary depending on your oven so be careful not to overbake the cookies. Place on a cooling rack to cool completely to room temperature before frosting.

To Frost the Cookies

Step 1. Place butter in a mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer.

Step 2. Add vanilla extract and continue beating.

Step 3. Add cream and half of the powdered sugar and mix. Add remaining powdered sugar and salt, beating until all ingredients are well incorporated and frosting is smooth.

Powdered sugar and butter mixture in bowl

Step 4. Spread frosting across cooled cookie bars.

Step 5. Decorate with 1/2 cup candy corn and orange and yellow sprinkles.

Step 6. Cut into 9 squares and serve!

Tips for The Best Halloween Cookie Bars

Make sure your butter and eggs are at room temperature before mixing. This ensures the ingredients mix together well and help the cookies bake evenly.

Pressing moist cookie dough into a pan can be a little tricky sometimes. If the dough is sticking to your fingertips, spray them with a little nonstick spray or use a little butter to grease them.

The bars should be completely cooled before you frost them. If they’re still the slightest bit warm, the frosting will melt and become runny.

To get clean slices, place the pan of cooled bars into the fridge just until the frosting firms up a good bit. Then you’ll be able to cut them into nice and neat squares.

Because candy corn doesn’t slice well, you may want to wait to decorate the cookie bars after you have sliced them into squares.

How Do You Store Frosted Cookie Bars?

Because of the frosting, you’ll need to store these treats in an airtight container in the fridge. They’ll stay fresh for up to 4-5 days.

Can These Be Frozen?

Yes, you can also freeze them, even after they’ve been frosted. Just line a cookie sheet with either freezer paper or parchment paper. Place the bars in single layer on the pan and pop them in the freezer for a couple of hours.

Then remove them from the sheet pan and transfer them to a freezer-safe container, placing a layer of parchment paper between them to keep them from sticking.

When you’re ready to defrost them, place them in the fridge overnight until thawed.

Candy Corn Variations and Add-ins

You can turn these into white chocolate candy corn cookies by adding about 1/4 cup of mini white chocolate chips to the yellow batter and about the same amount in the orange.

If you like a little crunch to your cookie bars, you can add about a 1/2-3/4 cup toasted and finely chopped pecans to the cookie dough.

This recipe uses a homemade cookie dough, but you can use a cookie mix if you prefer. For peanut butter bars, you can use a peanut butter cookie mix. The colors won’t be quite as pretty because the dough will not be as light, but they will taste amazing.

To decorate these cookie bars, you sprinkle candy corn over the tops of the frosting. But instead of pieces of candy corn, you can use any of your favorite Halloween candy. Orange and yellow M&Ms are a great choice!

If you’re in a pinch for time you can use premade buttercream frosting from the grocery store. A hack to give frosting in a can a more homemade taste and texture is to empty the frosting into a small bowl. Beat it with an electric mixer to make it fluffier then just add extracts of your choice to give it more flavor.